I’ve been told that I should not make homemade ice cream using raw eggs. To prevent foodborne illness, can I use Eggbeaters in place of the raw shell eggs without having to cook it?

First of all, you are right. Never prepare a homemade ice cream recipe that uses uncooked raw eggs. Raw, uncracked shell eggs may contain salmonella enteritidis, a harmful bacteria that causes foodborne illness.

To reduce or eliminate the risk of salmonellosis, use one of the following recommendations when preparing homemade ice cream this summer:

Use Eggbeaters, or a similar egg product, in place of the raw eggs in your favorite recipe. To substitute, simply follow the recommended equivalent on the egg product carton. Using the egg substitute, prepare according to the recipe.

Federal regulations require that all egg products, including whole eggs, egg whites and egg yolks in refrigerated liquid, frozen and dried form, be pasteurized to destroy salmonella. Therefore, the egg product does not have to be cooked.

However, remember that even though the pasteurized egg product is salmonella-free, it should be handled properly to avoid contamination and spoilage.

Choose a homemade ice cream recipe using eggs that begins with a cooked base, or convert your favorite homemade ice cream recipe that calls for uncooked eggs to one with a cooked, stirred custard.

To convert, simply combine the milk, beaten eggs and sugar in a saucepan, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and reaches 160 degrees. A thermometer is the most accurate measure, but you also may use the “spoon test” to indicate temperature. At 160 degrees, the mixture will lightly coat a metal spoon.

Remove the custard from the heat before adding other ingredients. Chill the custard base completely before freezing in your ice cream maker.

Choose a homemade ice cream recipe that does not include eggs.

Are the mayonnaises and salad dressings used in meat salads as dangerous as they used to be?

Commercial mayonnaise is not, and never was, the villain. Contrary to what may have been thought in the past, adding commercially prepared mayonnaise to food does not increase the risk of foodborne illnesses.

In fact, most commercially prepared mayonnaises and salad dressings contain lemon juice or some other acid, which slows bacterial growth.

So, really, adding mayonnaise to food slightly increases its resistance to foodborne bacteria.

To help prevent foodborne illness when preparing meat, egg or potato salads, follow these tips:

Pre-chill all the ingredients before mixing. Canned meats, like tuna, and commercial mayonnaise do not normally require refrigeration until opened, but by refrigerating them one day in advance, the cold temperature of the mixture will be maintained.

Properly wash your hands and use clean utensils to reduce the risk of contaminating or cross-contaminating the food itself during preparation.

Thoroughly wash the fresh vegetables, such as celery, to keep the dirt found in the vegetables from contaminating the salad with bacteria.

Add chilled commercial mayonnaise or salad dressing, rather than homemade, to the salad. The acidity of the mayonnaise will make the salad less favorable to bacterial growth. If desired, you can further strengthen the acidity by adding lemon juice to the recipe.

However, it’s important to realize that just because you have boosted the acidity does not mean that the salad can be time or temperature abused.

Keep the salad cold at 40 degrees or lower while serving it.

In environmental temperatures of 90 degrees or warmer, refrigerate perishable foods within one hour. If the temperature is below 90 degrees, refrigerate within two hours.

When is ground beef fully cooked?

With the backyard grills heating up for summer cookouts, you couldn’t have asked this question at a more appropriate time. It’s important to remember that proper handling and cooking is the key to making meat safe to eat. When ground beef’s internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, it’s safe.

Will any food thermometer work to check the temperature of meat?

Although a meat thermometer can be used, the most versatile and common type of thermometer for measuring meat, as well as other hot or cold foods, is the bi-metallic stemmed thermometer.

It is often called an “instant” thermometer in discount, hardware and kitchen supply stores because that’s what it does it will instantly measure the temperature of food once it’s been inserted.

Just remember, never leave a bi-metallic stemmed thermometer in food that is cooking, in an oven or a microwave, or on a stove top it will melt the plastic parts of the thermometer.

To use, stick the sensing tip of the thermometer into the center and/or thickest part of the meat. Wait for the needle or readout to stop. Wait 15 more seconds, then read the thermometer.

Check the temperature especially of large items like roasts or batches of stew in at least two places. If you are cooking ground meat patties, stack several patties on top of each other to get an accurate reading. (The lower 2 inches of the thermometer is the sensing area, not just the tip. Therefore, it’s important to have enough depth to get an accurate reading.)

Also, do not let the sensing tip of the thermometer touch the sides or bottom of the container. The container may be hotter or colder than the food, which could give you a false reading.

A bi-metallic thermometer should be calibrated after using it with very hot or very cold foods, or after dropping or jarring it, and on a regular basis. Calibrating can easily be done by using the ice point method or the boiling point method.

To use the ice point method, stick the sensing tip into a 50/50 ice and water slush until the needle is steady. Turn the calibration nut (directly under the face of the thermometer) until the needle reads 32 degrees. To use the boiling point method, insert the sensing tip into boiling water until the needle stabilizes. Then adjust the nut so that the indicator reads 212 degrees.

So, if I don’t have a thermometer to check the temperature, how can I tell if the ground beef is 160 degrees?

Many people rely on the patty’s internal color as a guide. Dark red means the meat is raw; dark brown means it’s well done.

But this rule of thumb doesn’t always work, according to Kansas State University researchers Melvin Hunt and Donald Kropt.

Some ground beef patties look brown before they’re fully cooked. Premature browning can make a medium-rare patty appear well done.

Analyzing the chemical and physical properties of normal and prematurely brown ground beef, the researchers discovered that premature browning is caused by oxidation of the pigment in raw ground beef.

The K-State scientists also noted that although meat color of normal and prematurely brown patties reacted differently to cooking, juice color looked the same. Juice from normal and oxidized patties looked red when the meat was raw and changed to pink and then to yellow with higher cooking temperatures.

Therefore, the researchers recommend using juice color as one more guideline for a reliable test of doneness instead of relying on meat color alone.